Life Imitates Art
by Michelle My Belle
Summary: Red and Liz. Red lingerie. Heels. Scotch. Was it only just a dream?


A/N: I was in the middle of chapter 2 of Unbreakable when a conversation in my home set off the following. Just for fun. Disclaimer: I do not own these amazing characters. 

**Life Imitates Art**

It was a Monday night ritual. He in one room. She in another. The minutes until ten o'clock ticked by slowly, painfully so. He couldn't understand why a television show was so important to her, not allowing herself to miss a minute. He didn't understand live tweeting either.

Then again he had his zombie apocalypse series.

Other nights, she was up late, nodding off on the couch reading. After a few weeks, his curiosity finally got the better of him.

"Night and day you are reading on that tablet. What's so interesting?"

Explaining this particular phenomenon would prove to be difficult.

"Fanfiction," and she could tell by his expression he had no idea what she was talking about. "Works of fiction about the show. I'm thinking of writing my own." Ooh, maybe she went one too far.

"Uh…ok, whatever floats your yacht, babe," and he responded with a little smirk.

"You don't understand. Red is _the _sexiest, most badass character ever written. If you watched with me you would know," she tried to explain. Some things are beyond explanation.

"Sexiest?"

"Oh yeah. The persona, the three piece suits, the fedora…wow, so hot," she fanned herself, feigning a heat flash. Really, she could go on and on but she stopped abruptly, realizing he may not fully appreciate these thoughts about a man other than him.

"Ok, well this regularly dressed guy is going to hit the hay. Night"

"Night, babe," she said with a small twinge of guilt. It hadn't been her intention to make him feel small, or that she was any less interested in him. What they had was exciting and real, but her fantasy life was just something he didn't know much about. She more or less wanted it that way. For now. After getting a few more chapters read, she drifted off to sleep with delicious thoughts swimming in her mind.

_Elizabeth Keen clipped briskly down the polished tile floor toward the elevators, Red hot on her heels. _

"_At least let me help you with your bag," he called after her._

"_Over my dead body! You probably know what is in it given you followed me to the lingerie department," she tossed back over her shoulder._

_He caught up to her in the elevator just before the doors slammed shut. Approaching her like a lion, she his feisty yet vulnerable prey, he slowly circled her, looking her over from the milky skin near the hem of her skirt to her exposed flesh above the last fastened button of her blouse. The intensity of his stare made her stomach flip and she began to melt under it, but reluctant for him to see what he was doing to her. _

"_Red, you can't follow me everywhere. Believe it or not, I do need to be alone to attend to personal business every now and then – can you please try and understand that?" she began to plead, now that they were alone._

"_Personal business, huh. What sort of business requires a red silk negligee? he teased, revealing that he was fully aware of the contents of her bag._

_She growled under her breath and dug her heel into the floor. Damn him! Was there nothing sacred in her life that he didn't have to be intimately involved in? And why was intimate the adjective her muddled mind went to? File that one away under thoughts agents definitely do not have about their assets. Speaking of assets. He had a set on him to die for. More than a few occasions during all-nighters at work she imagined lying next to him in his bed, sheets barely covering them and tracing her hand down his back over his curves._

"_Personal implies private and if you had any boundaries at all, you'd respect my private life," which was comical because she knew as well as he that she didn't have a private life. At least not one that didn't involve him. He had effectively invaded every aspect of her life, most recently taking up residence in her private thoughts. She justified that it was almost like having a real relationship, as much time as her thoughts were consumed by him. _

"_When it comes to boundaries, Lizzie, you should know by now, I live to test them." Captain Obvious, ladies and gentleman. _

_The elevator reached the ground floor and she promptly exited, hurrying toward her car. As usual, he had other, unspoken plans for her. Before she could reach her car, Dembe pulled up next to them and Raymond opened the back door, motioning for her to join him. She sighed heavily, seeing no point in attempting to resist his charms. He smiled, silently claiming victory. _

_Once they were both in the back seat, he turned and leaned in close, his expression darkening and damn near predatory. "So, Lizzie, care to share what's in the bag?"_

"_I told you, private?" but she knew this was a fight she was going to lose. Typical._

"_Come on, Lizzie, the curiosity is killing me. And this is certainly not how I planned on dying, sweetheart," he claimed, throwing a hand very deliberately over his heart._

_She couldn't hold back a small chuckle at his dramatic display. He was too much. Resigned, she nodded and Red instructed Dembe to take them to the safe house. This week, he was holed up in a contemporary penthouse. Shit, another elevator. He exited the car first, offering her his hand. She accepted, sensually sliding her fingers into his. She slid her legs out of the car slowly, one at a time, ensuring her captive audience was watching. Two could play at this game._

_He led her into the building, still holding her hand, then opening the door to his suite for her, he led her into the room placing his hand at the small of her back. His little touches melted her. As much as she wanted to be infuriated by his constant invasion, he was tearing down her defenses. A shuddering thought hit her: just his hand on her back was electrifying. What would it be like to…no, fantasizing about him while actually in his presence was not a good plan. _

_Taking a tumbler in one hand and pouring a few fingers of scotch, he crossed to her and offered her the drink. After the day she had and how flustered she felt from his interruption, she acquiesced. He poured himself the same and returned to sit dangerously close to her. Smoothly, he draped his right arm across the back of the sofa and leaned in._

"_So, will I have the pleasure of getting to see the fruits of your shopping excursion?" he asked coyly, raising an eyebrow._

_It was now or never. They had been dancing around one another for months, avoiding each other when the fear that they could no longer conceal their desires was apparent. Besides, this was harmless. A little fashion show, if you will. Nobody was signing any contracts. Taking a long sip of her drink and letting it burn down her throat gave her an added moment to steel her resolve. Finally, she found his gaze and not breaking it, she rose from the sofa, plucked the bag from the coffee table and sauntered off to his bedroom. Stunned, he simply sat there for a moment. New Lizzie was exhilarating._

_When his appetite long surpassed his gentlemanly honor, he rose and followed after her, opting for the chaise in his master suite over the bed. Too suggestive. Taking a pull at his drink, he found that even his twelve-year old single malt was doing nothing to calm the erratic breathing just the thought of what she was doing in his bathroom, what she would be wearing when she finally emerged was doing to him. He was staring down into the amber liquid when he heard the door creak open. Expectantly, his eyes flew up to meet hers. She was exquisite, she looked like sin. _

_And oh God, she kept her heels on._

_Her mind was racing and it took everything she had to keep from letting her face and body reveal it. 'The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all,' echoed in the recesses of her mind. This was no time to wax philosophical, Liz. _

_Sliding her hand up the door frame, sensually, but in truth, also for balance, she finally broke the tension in the room._

"_So, w-what do you think, Red?" she asked weakly, trembling. She smoothed non-existent wrinkles in the sumptuous red silk. _

_It was all he could do now to not stutter in response. The negligee fell about halfway down her smooth thighs. A revealing slit lined in lace adorned the right side. Her curves, all of them, were on full display, breasts cradled with wires and lace. The tiniest straps held up the garment and he couldn't help but think; as good as it looked on her, it would look better on the floor. _

"_Eh," and a smirk was all he would give away at first. Never telling her everything was something she could always count on, like it or not._

"_You've got to be kidding me!" she spat, incredulous. He loved seeing her fired up. She was making her way across the room toward him when he cleared his throat, scrambling to find the words that were escaping him at this moment. It was a rare occasion that anyone rendered him speechless. New, brave Lizzie stopped right in front of him, their knees touching. What was she doing? Was she giving him the green light? He looked up to find her looking down at him, fidgeting with her hands, just waiting for him to make the next move. Their eyes connected and she gave him a slight nod. She was all in._

_Doing his damndest not to appear too eager, he took his time raking his eyes down from hers, over her perfect body and down to her legs. Slowly, he settled a strong hand on each of her thighs, just below the hem of the silk. _

"_You're incredible, Elizabeth, I'm speechless," he was able to manage between breaths. She was so close to him, she swore she felt his hot breath between her thighs as he exhaled, or maybe it was something else._

"_Well, I should hope you would like it. I bought it for you, in case that isn't obvious." It was his turn for his stomach to flip at her admission. This woman held incredible power over this usually impervious and immovable force._

_He slid his hands up and down her thighs, caressing her smooth skin. Her knees were weak and wobbly from the heat of his touch. Dropping one knee on either side of him, she sank down onto his lap. Her exposed chest was now directly in front of his lips and he wasted no time dropping kisses across her clavicle. Her throaty moans music to his ears, he continued kissing down until he was between her perfect breasts. She tossed her head back in ecstasy, clamping her arms around the back of his head and pulling him closer, increasing the pressure he offered. Running her fingers under his collar and around to cup his face, she lifted it up to meet her own and kissed him soundly. The anticipation of months of subtle, and then not-so-subtle seduction had brought them here and neither could deny the electricity between them, especially now that they were finally baring their honesty with each other, sharing desires long kept in secret._

_His hands were everywhere, exploring a new world and she marveled at how, with all the times he had innocently touched her in the past, that she could never have imagined how good this would feel. The kiss intensified and they were both quickly lost in it, panting, tasting forbidden fruit. It was delectable. Their hot tongues tangled, sending audible groans of pleasure from both of them into the otherwise still room. The frenzy of aching want driving them further._

_Red knew he was about to test her limits, hoping she was as caught up as he. Before he could convince himself otherwise, he solidified his grip on the back of her thighs and stood. Taking his cue, she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bed. Their eyes never broke the intense hold they had on one another. Carefully, he bent down to lay her down on his bed, then stood back to take her in fully. There was his Lizzie, spread out before him like a prize, breathless and aroused. _

_Everything was new, including his expressions. Unsure of how to read him at this moment, she immediately worried that he was having second thoughts. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she looked up through her long lashes at him, expectantly. His hands were shaking. This was a Red she did not know. The calm, collected, criminal mastermind was now quaking in her presence. Lizzie sat up to her knees at the edge of his bed, running her hands up his shirt and started working his tie. Her boldness stilled his trembling hands and he returned them to her thighs, sliding up under the silky barrier between them. His tie and vest were quickly shed and dropped to the floor. She imagined that he rarely, if ever, allowed his lavish garments to touch the floor. Lizzie makes quick work of the buttons of his shirt, eager to take him in. Sliding the crisp shirt to the floor, she was finally able to run her hands over his strong, sculpted chest and the soft curly hair. He certainly didn't need the suit to be incredibly sexy._

_Together, they worked his belt and slid his slacks to the floor. Stepping out of them and putting a guiding hand at the back of her head, he laid her back down on his bed, covering her with his magnificent body. Raymond Reddington was not an outwardly emotional man, but he looked down into her eyes with more passion in a moment than some people know in a lifetime. But then, it had felt like a lifetime that he had waited for her, wanted her. Only her. _

_Lizzie returned his gaze, speaking volumes without words. Inviting him in, for now, for keeps. The heady feeling was overpowering. There was only one response. Keep going._

_Red leaned down to capture her lips once again and enveloped her with his hands, his arms, his entire being. She was already impatient under him, the newness of feeling this desired, this alive taking her body very pleasantly by storm. Lizzie shimmied his boxers down carefully and Red quickly kicked them off. Feeling impatient himself, he pulled the silky slip up over her head and flung it to the floor with the rest of their clothing. He took in her form, enamored with her perfection. She swallowed thickly, taking in the sight of him. _

_His sheets were silky and sexy, the heady scent of his masculine cologne permeating them. She took up two fistfuls of the sheets as he took his time filling her. To overflowing. He was blissfully thick and long, but exactly what she needed. Their eyes connected again after he was fully within her and she held his penetrating gaze until he began to rock into her steadily, making her baby blues flutter closed in ecstasy. It wouldn't take long…this time._

_He was reluctant for this to end, but unable to deny, Red panted in her ear, "Are you close?"_

"_Yes, God, yes," she whispered, desperate for him to continue. "You feel amazing, Raymond."_

_Hearing his name on her lips for the first time was nearly enough to send him to the edge of restraint but he needed her to come first. He needed to watch her, her body's response, her face, to hear her say his name yet again. A few moments more of climbing even higher and they both fell over the cliff, together. _

In her dream state, the sound of footsteps faintly approaching on the wood floor pulled her from her reverie. Groggy, she rubbed her eyes and focused in to see her husband standing over her in a black three piece suit, white dress shirt, tie and charcoal fedora. Was she still dreaming? He reached down to take her hand and help her to her feet. He was her real life Red. He led her away and fulfilled a particular fantasy she had never shared with anyone. This time, she was definitely not dreaming.


End file.
